POP

White Tanks is a super fun course. There's really only 2 short technical sections, one climbing switchback, a few descending switchbacks, and a tricky, lots-of-big-loose-rocks wash. Other than that, it's a nice rolling course with some good gradual climbing and a nice descent to the end.

I did not have a very good start. Jennifer and I went out for a quick warm up just a few minutes before the start and realized on the way back that we didn't really know where the start was. We were further away from it than we thought.

After we got going, Jennifer and I rode with Christina for a little. I charged ahead with Jennifer in tow who was giving me tips on what to expect of the course since I never made it down to preride. We were passing marathoners and junior and beginner women here and there. Jennifer and I kept changing front position. We finally hit the last of the tech section which meant it was all downhill to the end. Time for the big ring.

We were cruising along, trying to take the turns at a smart speed. I was getting close to the end and a strange noise came out of nowhere. A big popping sound. Next thing I hear is Jennifer....OH NO, YOUR CHAIN!!! She turned and rode back to where it fell off to confirm. She was hilarious. She wanted to wait for me! Then she was going to go tell someone and come back for me. She ended up riding on and gave Zach a heads up about what I had going on. I had no tool.

I ran for what felt like 3 miles. It was probably only a quarter of a mile, but it felt like forever. A friend of Scott Keller handed me a chain tool towards the end of the end of the lap. I ran all the way in and waited for Zach who was off getting a link. Standing there with me was the USA cycling official who reminded me that I needed to be self sufficient as Zach walked up with the link. So that was the end of my race. After a little bantering and explaining, I finally got his okay to go out and at least ride the rest of my 3 laps. What a waste it would have been to only have gotten 1 lap in!!

But if only that could have been the end of my day. Zach was a good soldier and continued handoffs even though I wasn't racing. The next lap we dropped the bottle. Pretty uneventful after that. I ended up finishing about 15 minutes behind Jen.

Timing-wise that put me right at the start of Zach's race. I had no idea what he wanted in terms of hand-offs. I jumped on my bike and tried speeding over to the start line. I had to take a short cut through this natural area and the next thing I knew I was sliding out landing on the ground. As I stood up, I felt pain. Like I had never quite felt before. I looked down at my right arm and I had 3 cholla cactus things in my arm and shoulder and one sticking out of my right butt cheek!! AGGHH!!! It hurt. I've never experienced anything like this though. Out of nowhere, 2 people appeared and started helping me pull them out. I didn't know either one of them. It was pretty cool. I'm not sure what I would have done if they hadn't come over. You can't pull cholla out with your bare hands cause they hurt like a mother. You have to use a tool or a couple of keys or something and I'm sure I was too much shock to do anything like that by myself.

So I didn't have a very good first race, but the weekend did end well with a trip to Sedona. My sister Jennifer, her husband and kids are there visiting my parents. And Zach had a freaking awesome race, finishing 2nd in his age category and 3rd overall for cat 1 men!!!